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a transparent gel like subtance covering a skeleton that mimics a humanoid one simply does not make any sense. i think that current tech creates robotic arms that are more dextrous, less fragile and longer lasting than the archaic human skeleton.

Developed by researchers at Osaka University, Repliee Q1 is a the second of a pair of robots designed to mimic the appearance and motion of humans.

Covered in a silicone skin which closely mimics the appearance and flexibility of human skin, the android appears eerily lifelike. Once you see it moving, however, the illusion is quickly dispelled.

Repliee Q1 (pictured above) and Repliee R1, based on the look of a 5-year old girl, are designed as test beds to study human-machine interaction. The researchers felt that making the machines' as similar as possible to living people would help make people more comfortable with them, but I have to wonder if the effort was wasted, since as the researchers admit that as verisimilitude is approached the level of comfort drops precipitously.

Developed by researchers at Osaka University, Repliee Q1 is a the second of a pair of robots designed to mimic the appearance and motion of humans.

Covered in a silicone skin which closely mimics the appearance and flexibility of human skin, the android appears eerily lifelike. Once you see it moving, however, the illusion is quickly dispelled.

Repliee Q1 (pictured above) and Repliee R1, based on the look of a 5-year old girl, are designed as test beds to study human-machine interaction. The researchers felt that making the machines' as similar as possible to living people would help make people more comfortable with them, but I have to wonder if the effort was wasted, since as the researchers admit that as verisimilitude is approached the level of comfort drops precipitously.

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Would I be right in thinking therefore that the less correct an android is, the more comfortable people are? So that's why people are so comfortable about hugging Mickey Mouse or Goofy at Disneyland, perhaps? Because they know they're not real, and could never possibly be mistaken for reality. The closer one comes to reality, the less comfortable you are, because you realise that what you're seeing is an object, not a person, and it's the attempt to portray them as a real person that makes one so uncomfortable. While we're on the subject, did anyone read the sci-fi story 'Sailing to Byzantium'?

Would I be right in thinking therefore that the less correct an android is, the more comfortable people are? So that's why people are so comfortable about hugging Mickey Mouse or Goofy at Disneyland, perhaps? Because they know they're not real, and could never possibly be mistaken for reality. The closer one comes to reality, the less comfortable you are, because you realise that what you're seeing is an object, not a person, and it's the attempt to portray them as a real person that makes one so uncomfortable. While we're on the subject, did anyone read the sci-fi story 'Sailing to Byzantium'?

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Whenever I hug a female Android, I am happy because deep in my heart I know for sure that this female is allowing me to hug her even though I have no money.

Making a robot look vaguely like a human is possible today, and people find the appearance of a semi-humanoid robot quite familiar and generally acceptable. However when an attempt is made to replicate human appearance an movement more closely, this usually fails.
A very humanoid robot can look disturbing, as if it were a giant puppet or a human body controlled by an outside entity; an uncanny experience.

See this page in the Wikipedia about the so-called 'Uncanny Valley' phenomenonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley
an interesting read, and a problem with all attempts to make human-like automatons or virtual images.

Would I be right in thinking therefore that the less correct an android is, the more comfortable people are? So that's why people are so comfortable about hugging Mickey Mouse or Goofy at Disneyland, perhaps? Because they know they're not real, and could never possibly be mistaken for reality. The closer one comes to reality, the less comfortable you are, because you realise that what you're seeing is an object, not a person, and it's the attempt to portray them as a real person that makes one so uncomfortable. While we're on the subject, did anyone read the sci-fi story 'Sailing to Byzantium'?

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The word is "Familiarity". One grows up with Mickey Mouse etc...In America, we say cute to even ugly babies, dogs etc. Human brain is such a wonderful device, it can can manipulate data to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". The comfort is what brain thinks it is...